Arsenal: Sohail Shamsudeen Interviews Robert Pirès

During a recent trip to Singapore, Robert Pires sat down to discuss the Invincibles, the lack of fight in the current Arsenal team and much more.

Robert Pires is an Arsenal legend. Simple. He reinvented the role of a Premier League winger, and he did so with both guile and class.

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Before we continue, we would like to thank Sohail Shamsudeen – a press accredited sports journalist based in Singapore, who writes for our Sportskeeda, Vavel and sister-site Red Devil Armada – who kindly gave us the opportunity to transcribe the Arsenal related questions in his exclusive interview, which can be found in its enirety in video form below.

Sohail Shamsudeen: What is the difference between the Arsenal that went 49 games unbeaten, and the one struggling these days?

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Robert Pires: (Laughs) First thing. You know, I don’t like to compare. Teams, players or manager, because the Invincibles team, it was a special team, it was one of the best teams in the history of the Premier League. If you want to compare my team and now, maybe now Arsenal they need more spirit, or more players to fight on the field. Warriors, like Vieira, Adams, Martin Keown. So maybe this is the difference. But if you watch Arsenal now, they have very good quality, they have very good players, some players, they can reach the highest level. This team needs to find the good spirit.

SS: Do you think Arsène Wenger deserves all the criticism he gets?

RP: It’s a hard question. I think Wenger is the man for Arsenal, of course. I understand some fans because some fans they want to say, thank you very much for everything Arsène Wenger, but it’s time to leave. But you know, it’s impossible to forget everything, of course, actually, it is difficult for Arsenal, but it’s very important to stay focused on the objectives and to play together. That’s why Wenger, he believes in the squad and in the players, he keeps the same philosophy, so even for the fans, it’s important to push the team to reach. The final of the Europa League, everything is possible now.

Next: Arsenal: 30 greatest players in history

Once again, we would like to thank Mohamed for allowing us to transcribe his special interview. Robert Pires may be part of a minority, but his opinion certainly carries weight.